When you are photographing a special occasion, like a birthday party, it’s likely that there will be a series of events that take place in the same area. For example, the dining room might be the location for the meal, cake, and the gift opening. You might capture a few shots of the kids playing in the backyard, but for the most part, when you look through your photos at the end of the night, you’re going to start feeling like they all look the same. Here’s a picture of Johnny blowing out his candles at the dinner table. Here is a picture of Johnny opening his presents at the dinner table. Here is a picture of Grandma smiling at the dinner table. What’s a photographer to do?
Obviously, one solution is to move the party around. If you are the party planner, shuffle people from one area to the next for each activity. It will make for a more interesting album and it will keep you guests from getting bored.
If moving people around during the party isn’t an option, you will have to do all the shuffling yourself. When I photograph a wedding, I am almost constantly on the move. Some people don’t even notice, because I move during a time when there is a lot of other movement going on to distract the audience or when everyone has their heads down in prayer. You can do the same thing at a small party as well. Never take more than 10 pictures from the same angle. Take photos from all corners of the room. Zoom in and out. Stand on a chair (or hold up your camera) and squat down at eye level with your young subjects. Photograph details as well as scenes, such as the writing on the cake, the inside of a card, the frosting smeared on a child’s cheek, crumpled wrapping paper by the birthday boy’s feet, or the pile of toys, clothes and books after all the gifts have been opened.
Finally, always take twice as many pictures as you think you’ll want. That way you’ll have plenty of cushion when you delete the bad ones and you won’t end up with an incomplete album.